Submissions FAQ

Frequently asked questions about our submissions process. If your question is not answered on this page, please feel free to email us at info@poetrywales.co.uk

Do you accept submissions?

Yes, but only during certain times of the year, when our submissions window is open. You can find out about our latest call for submissions on our Submittable page, or on our submissions Page

How do I submit my work to you?

When we are accepting submissions, our preferred method of submission is Submittable, but we also accept submissions by email to our submissions email address and by post. During times when our submissions window is open, you can find all of the information here

Please not, we do not accept submissions outside of our submissions window, or via any format other than the ones listed above (e.g. social media, to email addresses other than our submissions address, etc.) – if you send a submission to us via a different method (unless we have specifically asked you to), it will not be considered

Do you accept work that has been previously published?

No, we only publish previously unpublished work in our magazine. Because of this, we ask that you avoid simultaneous submissions. However, if you find that a poem is taken somewhere else when it is still under consideration with us, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing submissions@poetrywales.co.uk

Do you publish submissions from unpublished writers?

Absolutely! We are just as happy to see poems by brand new writers as we are those by poets whose work we have loved over many years. We want to unleash new writers on the world, and to represent as broad as possible a range of writers as our page count will allow, so please don’t be put off if you are previously unpublished

When do your submissions windows open?

It varies issue to issue and year to year, but we generally will open for submissions in October, March, and August for four weeks each time. The dates are subject to change, so please make sure to check our submissions page for the most up-to-date information, or subscribe to our newsletter

Can I submit work again if I submitted for the previous issue?

Yes! Having work in a previous issue doesn’t guarantee you a spot in a future one, but it won’t put us off, either. We would ask though that if you are published in the magazine, please wait for a couple of issues before submitting again, unless you have been commissioned to write something.

In 2024 we introduced a new policy of not publishing the same writers in concurrent issues, in order to make sure we are making space for a wider array of voices. In line with this, we ask poets who have been published in an issue not to submit to the next call-out, to save yourself and our editor(s) time. For example, if you are being published in the Spring issue, we would ask that you wait until at least the Winter issue to submit your work again

Do I need to write about a certain topic or theme?

When we put out a call to submissions, we will often specify the sort of themes or writers that we are particularly interested in reading for the next issue. That means that poems and poets with those particular features might be more likely to get considered, because of limited page numbers, but we won’t automatically discount you if your work doesn’t fit the brief. And remember you can always try again in a future call-out if we don’t select your work!

Is there a word/character/line limit for submissions?

No! We consider poems of all shapes and sizes, though it may be worth bearing in mind that if your poem is particularly long we may be unable to choose it for publication if it means we wouldn’t be able to publish as many other poets. But if we really love your work, we’ll always try to find a way to make it part of Poetry Wales, whether in print or on our website

How many poems can you publish per issue?

We can print a maximum of about 50 poems, which is only about 1% of the submissions we usually receive. So if you didn’t get selected, please don’t take it as a setback – we have a lot to choose from and there are always poems we want to publish that we just can’t fit in!

How long does it take for you to respond to submissions?

We aim to let you know whether or not your submission has been accepted within five weeks of the closing date of the submissions window (not when you submitted). When this is not possible, we will update our submissions page with a new timeline.

What’s the best way for me to find out when the submissions window is open?

Follow us on our social media – Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – or sign up to our newsletter. When we put out a call for submissions we will share it immediately to all of these platforms

Do you only publish poets from Wales?

Nope – while we always try to have a Welsh focus and amplify Welsh voices, we encourage work from writers all over the world

Do you have a submissions guideline?

Yes! It’s here, and you can also find links to it on our submissions page

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Check out our resource pages for writers, including advice on getting published, working through rejection, writing prompts and more

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